Cancer headed to Cornell

Galal Cancer put a great deal into basketball during the 2009-10 scholastic season as the starting point guard at Christian Brothers Academy and he played a vital role in the Brothers’ first state Class AA championship.

During the summer with Albany City Rocks, Cancer traveled around the country with teammates like Jamesville-DeWitt center DaJuan Coleman and St. Benedict’s Prep forward Tyler Harris — two of the nation’s most highly-recruited players.

During those journeys, Cancer also narrowed his prospective college destination down to two schools: Cornell University and the University at Albany.

After visiting both schools and taking nearly two weeks to ponder his decision, Cancer has provided first-year Cornell coach Bill Courtney his oral commitment to begin competing for the Big Red in the 2011-12 season.

“I talked to the coaching staff and he was their top recruit — Galal was the guy they wanted,” CBA coach Dave Doemel said.

Cancer, a rugged 6-foot-2 point guard who averaged 10.7 points per game as a junior, earned first team Large School All-Area plaudits from the Times Union in April and was named to the state’s seventh team in Class AA.

“I thought about both schools carefully, and then I thought about the schools after I left and how each would help me. I thought with Cornell, I will have a better chance to be successful after basketball is finished.”

Boston College coach Steve Donahue, who guided Cornell to three straight NCAA appearances and a school-record 29 victories in the 2009-10 season, began recruiting Cancer last year. Courtney, a former assistant at such schools as George Mason, Virginia and Virginia Tech, picked up on Cancer’s recruitment once he took over at Cornell in April and made him a top priority. The CBA guard joins a recruiting class that also features 6-6 guard/forward Shonn Miller and 6-3 guard Devin Cherry.

“He has worked so hard in the classroom and on the court,” Doemel said of Cancer. “With the way their program is going, to have a school like Cornell interested in you is a good thing. Obviously, Cornell is a great school.”